It didn’t take long for Western Province’s President’s Cup to become a watered-down affair that no one really cares about.
Last week saw the start of the post-league tournament and some clubs played their second-string teams because they’ve got more important issues at hand.
We’ll get to that a little bit later.
I always thought the structure of the tournament meant it was doomed from the start.
My biggest gripe is that there isn’t a real incentive for winning the Cup.
What I would like to see is the top four of each league going head-to-head in a playoff to be crowned champions of their league.
Let’s use Super League A as an example. There are 15 teams in this league and you only get to play each other once.
If the title race is tight, then it would mean whoever gets the home game between the two top sides automatically gets advantage to win the league.
Now if you had 10 teams, they could have played each other home and away and you wouldn’t have had to add an extra tournament just to fill the calendar - which is what I believe the guys at the top are doing.
I think many club fans and players will be in agreement that 15 teams in the top league is too much. Just ask Pniel Villager, who haven’t won a single game this year.
Back to the President’s Cup.
What I suggest is that you still give the league winners some sort of shield. But just like they do in Super Rugby, let’s have some real finals rugby.
I imagine a big day at Newlands for the finals - it should be easier to control the crowd as well.
Anyway, as it stands, Tygerberg and False Bay start their Gold Cup campaigns this weekend.
The Tiere were blown away 48-31 by Ikeys in their President’s Cup quarterfinal clash last weekend.
But it’s clear to see where the club’s mind was - on Sunday’s Gold Cup opener against Progress RFC.
The same goes for the Bay, who automatically qualified for the semifinal after finishing second in the league.
Now they play their own Gold Cup curtain-raiser, a President’s Cup semi against rivals Hamiltons, before facing Boland’s Roses in the big game.
I can’t imagine how Hammies are going to get themselves up for a game against a second-string side.
Other teams have other issues.
Take Parow NTK for example.
They lost 84-21 to UniMil in their President’s Cup encounter.
But it wouldn’t have mattered much because their immediate goal is beating Helderberg in the promotion/relegation playoffs at the end of the month.
So while it’s a good initiative to have a knockout tournament at the end of the season, maybe the structure should be reconsidered.